|
Pardoned!
Alexander
H. Stephens served as Vice President of the
Confederacy. He was a cripple, and died shortly after
becoming the governor of
Georgia
. When it became known that he was soon to die, that
the physicians had no hope of prolonging his life, the
great men of state crowded his bedroom and besought
him to sign important documents. But Stephens waved
them away and called for his private secretary and
told him to bring out of his desk an old, faded paper.
The secretary found it. It was the petition of an old
humble woman back in the hills seeking the pardon of
her sinful son in the penitentiary.
With
the great state officials begging Stephens to lay it
aside and take up weightier matters, he replied:
"No. I am going to sign this. The great matters
of state will take care of themselves.” And, being
propped on his pillow, Governor Stephens took the
yellow, faded appeal of the heart-broken mother who
had no other intercessor at the governor's mansion. He
dipped the pen in the ink, and across the appeal he
wrote "PARDONED." Underneath
he scrawled his name, "Alexander H. Stephens,
Governor." Then he dropped back upon his pillow
-- dead. *
Likewise,
almost 2,000 years ago, high on the hill called
Golgotha
, the Son of God was dying... All the sins
of the world were upon Him. At His side a thief and
murderer, an outcast, was also hung on a cross. The
thief cried out, "Lord, remember me when You come
into Your kingdom" (Luke 23:42). From the lips of
Jesus came words of forgiveness and assurance:
"Assuredly I say to you today, you will be
with
Me in
Paradise
" (Luke 23:43).
The
man judged unfit to live with men was made suitable by
the Savior’s pardon to live forever with Jesus!
“For
ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans
3:23),
and sin makes us unfit to live forever with Jesus.
Yet, because of His great
love for us, Jesus has offered pardon to us through
His sacrificial death on the cross as payment for our
sins.
We
accept this pardon through our obedient faith: believing
in Him (Acts 16:30-31), repenting
of sin (Acts 17:30-31), confessing
Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and being baptized
(immersed) in His name for the forgiveness (the
pardon) of our sins.
As long as we remain faithful to Him, His blood
will continue to cleanse us from all sin (1 John 1:7).
When
our sins declared US unfit to live, JESUS – through
His death – has offered pardon and life.
Will
YOU accept His pardon
through your obedient faith?
God bless you!
David
A. Sargent, Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
* Robert
G. Lee
To
Subscribe to "Living Water"
send a blank e-mail to:
HTML version: subscribe-livingwater@lyris.dundee.net
TEXT version: subscribe-livingwater-text@lyris.dundee.net
Follow
this link to locate the church of Christ nearest you: www.churchzip.com
Archived issues of "Living Water" can be accessed from our website
at: www.creekwoodcc.org
|
